The Dudley Building Society, which five years ago took the decision to market its mortgage product range only through mortgage advisers, says it will continue to champion the principle of ‘whole of market’ advice.

The society believed that if a product was good enough it should stand or fall on its merits and stand comparison with its peers across the market.

Sam Ward (pictured), the Dudley’s head of commercial, said that five years on, the society’s results have showed a positive uplift every year showing that its philosophy is working.

She said: “The FCA’s consultation paper is right to question existing norms. However, the principle of independent whole of market advice should be considered as the cornerstone on which customers can rely for unbiased and properly researched recommendations, based on their specific needs and taken from the widest range of possible lending candidates.

“The danger is that once the door is opened to more execution only alternatives, independent whole of market advice will be chipped away and we run the risk of returning to the days when customers had little choice than to accept a product from one provider’s range, which is definitely not advice.”